Will the Northwestern Wildcats be able to cause anymore chaos on the college football scene? Will Notre Dame be able to assert itself here and take care of a lesser talented opponent on the road?
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have appeared to be vulnerable at times this season, but the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have remained undefeated all the same and have a great chance to go undefeated. The Northwestern Wildcats have appeared incredibly inept through most of the year, but the Northwestern Wildcats are currently leading the Big Ten West and have a great chance to win the division.
Now, these two teams will meet in Evanston, Illinois. This weekend, the team that holds a perfect record is going to match up with a team that is the living embodiment of college football chaos for this season.
Northwestern is not impressive in really anything that it does. The Wildcats barely out-gain and outscore their opponents this season, but they’re on a four-game winning streak that has propelled them right into the Big Ten championship picture. It took overtime for Northwestern to put Nebraska away and then the following week, the Wildcats beat Rutgers by a field goal. This is the same team that has defeated Michigan State and Wisconsin by a combined 24 points.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame is on the cusp of playing for the college football playoffs. The Fighting Irish need to win out for the rest of this season and this is arguably the toughest task that remains for them. Well, it’s either Northwestern or Syracuse, but it’s probably Northwestern at the moment. The trio of Dexter Williams, Tony Jones Jr., and Jafar Armstrong have combined for 1135 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. They’ll look to provide a solid running attack against Northwestern’s run defense that holds opponents to 146 rushing yards per game.
How to bet on and watch Northwestern vs. Notre Dame
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 3
- Start Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
- Location: Evanston, Illinois
- Stadium: Ryan Stadium
- TV Info: ESPN
- Odds: Notre Dame -9.5
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
Prediction: Notre Dame has come to this point in the season undefeated and the Fighting Irish should be able to escape Evanston with a win, but this game still might get a little weird for a while. The safe bet is to go with the Fighting Irish here.
Score: Notre Dame 31, Northwestern 20